


Can you see how my own body's waging war on me?

by LonelyAngel



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Best Friends, Disability, Platonic Relationship, wheelchair
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-05
Updated: 2018-04-05
Packaged: 2019-04-18 19:27:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14220132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LonelyAngel/pseuds/LonelyAngel





	Can you see how my own body's waging war on me?

Tyler tries to wheel to the kitchen. He's thirsty and Josh is sleeping in the bedroom right now. Tyler doesn't want to wake him and he hates to tell Josh that he needs help, so instead he tries to do it on his own.

It's been a bad day so far. Tyler couldn't sleep and so instead he kept pinching his legs, trying to feel something. But, of course, his legs are numb, numb as always and it's driving him crazy.

Tyler loves running around, jumping and climbing. He can't do things like this anymore.

He tries to wheel to the kitchen, but gets stuck in the doorframe. Tyler curses. He hates the doorframes, they're so difficult to wheel through. He grabs the frame with his hands and pushes. His arms are weak and he hates it. Tyler curses when the wheelchair doesn't move. He yanks himself forward and almost falls out of the chair.

Luckily, he the chair isn't stuck anymore and he can roll into the kitchen. Tyler takes a deep breath and opens the fridge, placing a water bottle in his lap, spinning around and driving to the counter. He opens the cupboard and reaches for a glass. The glasses are almost out of reach and Tyler stretches his arm as much as he can. His muscles hurt when his fingertips touch a glass and he tries to grab it.

It slips out of his hand and falls down, breaking into tiny pieces. Tyler stares at it and he can feel tears well up in his eyes. He's frustrated, everything is so much more difficult right now and he can't do it anymore. Tyler buries his face in his hands and starts to sob. Tears slide down his cheeks and he feels so useless.

He stops crying after a few minutes and grits his teeth. He considers yelling for Josh, but Josh really needs to sleep, it's exhausting to have Tyler around, to help him all the time. He can't even shower on his own.

Tyler places the water bottle on the counter after taking a sip and reaches down to pick up the pieces of glass. He isn't careful enough and the glass leaves small cuts in his palm. Tyler throws it into the trashcan and decides to go to the bathroom and grab some bandages.

He turns the chair and sees that he missed a piece of glass. He bends down and he doesn't know how it happens, but suddenly he falls and hits the floor. Tyler takes a shaky breath and squeezes his eyes shut, waiting for the pain in his head to fade away.

He opens his eyes and reaches for the chair, but it rolls away when he grabs it. Tyler grabs the wheel and leaves blood stains on it when he tries to pull himself up. His arms are too weak and he can't push himself up enough to get up again.

Tyler wants to scream when he falls down after pushing himself up a few inches for the last minutes. He can't do it. He's not strong enough. His legs are no help.

He starts crying again and it's so pathetic. He's helpless.

Tyler growls and throws the piece of glass away, it hits the wall and falls into the sink. He knows he needs Josh's help to get up again. His hands are shaking when he calls for Josh.

A few moments later, he hears footsteps and Josh appears. His eyes widen when he sees Tyler lying on the floor, blood smeared over the white tiles and a part of the wheelchair.

"Oh my gosh, what happened?" he asks and kneels down next to Tyler.

"I broke a glass and tried to clean it up. I fell and I can't get up again." Tyler explains quietly, shame causing him to blush.

Josh reaches out and wraps his arms around Tyler's upper body. "Are you hurt?"

"Just cut my hand." Tyler mumbles when Josh pulls him up and places him carefully in the chair.

Josh inspects Tyler's hands and gets some bandages from the bathroom. He wraps them around Tyler's hand after making sure there's no glass inside the cuts. "Why didn't you wake me up?" he asks.

Tyler bites his lip. "I thought I could make it on my own."

"I'm here to help you." Josh shakes his head. "That was dangerous. You could have a concussion."

"I didn't want your help." Tyler explains. "I feel so helpless, Josh. I can't do anything on my own. I am useless."

"You're not useless, Tyler. Don't say that." Josh says sternly.

"I didn't ask for it!" Tyler whimpers. "I don't want to live like this."

"I know." Josh sighs and kneels down next to Tyler, hugging him. "I'm sorry, Tyler."

Tyler turns his head away. "Why are you even here? You should leave me, the only thing you do is taking care of me all the time. I don't deserve it. You have your own life."

"I know, but you're important to me, Tyler. I want to help you." Josh sighs and stands up. "Maybe we should strap you, so you can't fall again."

"No!" Tyler cries out. "I don't want to, please, don't do this, Josh!"

"Hey, it's okay, calm down." Josh places a hand on Tyler's uninjured one. "I won't force you to do it. But you should consider it, it safer this way."

"Never." Tyler shakes his head. "It makes me feel trapped."

"Okay. But promise me that you'll be more careful the next time." Josh rubs Tyler's thigh and Tyler wishes he could feel it.

"I promise."

Josh sighs. "Don't feel bad for asking for help. I'm always happy to help you."

Tyler nods. "I think we need to change a few things. The doorframes are way too small."

"Yeah, and we should do something about kitchen, too. You need to be able to reach the cupboards." Josh agrees.

Tyler hums quietly. "Josh, I really want to take a bath. Can… can you help me, please?"

"Of course." Josh wants to grab the handles of the wheelchair, but he knows that Tyler hates it to get pushed around, so instead he watches how Tyler struggles to wheel to the bathroom. When he opens the door and Josh helps him to undress and lay down in the bathtub, it's the content sigh that leaves Tyler's lips that shows him, that things can get better.


End file.
